10 years on: The Pasha Bulker storm

Local Police, SES reflect.

It's 10 years today that the Central Coast and Hunter were devastated by the 'PASHA BULKA STORM'.

An intense east coast low battered the regions for 36 hours, with torrential rain and gale force winds, leading to mass blackouts.

One gust at Norah Head reached 135 kilometres per hour.

Brisbane Water's top cop Danny Sullivan says it's a day he'll never forget.

While the running aground of the bulk carrier off Newcastle's Nobby's Beach remains the iconic image, the deaths of 5 people at Somersby is the Central Coast's most poignant memory of the storm.

Roslyn Bragg, her partner Adam Holt, their two young daughters Madison and Jasmine and 9 year old nephew Travis were all killed after a section of the Pacific Highway collapsed when a culvert, that was overdue for replacement by council, gave way (image above).

It's this particular incident that stands out in the memory of Werner Klumpp - deputy controller for Gosford's SES Unit then and now - during what was otherwise an exhausting and "blurred" three weeks of operations.

Overall, nine people lost their lives across the Central Coast and Hunter as a result of the storms, while the damage bill was more than One Billion Dollars.